By Alwayshuntress
This week Steffy proved she still has tunnel vision, Wyatt showed he can be a ‘team player’ and BS with the best of them, Brooke discovered it’s not fun being forgettable and Raya took being disgusting human beings to a whole new level.
While Steffy was baring her (ill-advised, annoyingly consistent) heart, Liam heard Steffy’s ‘I love you’ and responded with the lamest line EVER.
“Steffy, we’re always going to care about each other. I mean, good God, what we’ve been through together.”
Like him calling her and their child obstacles and problems he and Hope had to ‘overcome?’ Yeah, I wish he’d just repeat some of those choice phrases. Steffy would be over him after that.
“Liam? Did you hear what I said? I said that I still love you.”
Aaaaand that thing he did is called ‘deflecting,’ Steffy. That’s him saying HE DOESN’T. *facepalm* I love me some Steffy and I really wanted my chica back, but not so that she could chase the man who let another woman trash talk his wife, kiss all over him and massage his… ego… while Steffy was home waiting for him to bring back dinner after her miscarriage and accident. This is pitiful. Steffy should have come back, started dating Carter or Wyatt and had LIAM be the one to chase HER if the writers were so intent on Steam. This is just more ‘women are lame and pathetic’ writing.
When Liam tried to push her feelings onto the back burner, behind his business plan and tell her that they’d figure their personal stuff out later, that’s when we got a VERY unSteffy line that made me want to send smackassins to a few writers’ gyms to lay in wait.
“No, Liam. I am NOT going to sell out my family just so you can play hero for your new girlfriend. I can’t BE in this unless we’re in it together.”
NO, Steffy. The correct line was ‘I will NOT sell out my family.’ Period. I HATE that her reaction isn’t about whether or not it’s the right thing to do for her family and their company; it’s ALL about whether or not she’d be screwing everyone over for a man – which she’s apparently perfectly willing to do (whether it’s selling or not).
Liam tried to tell her that they would be in it together, just not ‘like that’ and Steffy told him she wouldn’t be part of it then. *sigh* After some more back and forth, Liam finally started to see how much pain Steffy was in at the thought of being with him, but not being WITH him.
“You never said anything.”
Yeah, he chose Hope over her… even after Hope chose his brother over him. I can’t possibly imagine WHY she wouldn’t have told him. *rolls eyes*
“Your life went on and I let you assume mine did, too. Maybe now it can.”
Please? Maybe this can be the moment LIAM starts to realize how much he really did love Steffy back in the day, but buried it under a mountain of blame over baby Aspen, while STEFFY starts moving on without him and healing her own pain. Honestly, at this point, anything’s better than this pathetic nonsense – as long as Steffy doesn’t get used or wait around willing to be second choice… again.
Back at Ridge’s loft, Rica was coming off a hot and steamy kiss before Caroline asked him if the portrait was really how he saw her. When he said yes, she asked him to show her more. *fans self* Hands up if you want to trade places with the lucky blonde? The designer walked his muse back over to her seat, where he repositioned her and she reached up to take his hand. That was when she registered she was still wearing her wedding ring, so she took it off. She SHOULD have taken it off when Rick shot at her, but I’ll let it go at that.
After Ridge worked on the painting for a few more minutes, Caroline walked back over to look at the result before deciding she was done with waiting for him to make his move.
“When you said that you wanted to paint me, I thought that you meant you wanted to paint… me.”
And she dropped the sheet as Ridge looked at her briefly and closed his eyes with a sigh (apparently steeling his self-control… adorable) before picking up his paint brush and starting to actually paint on his living canvas. A few strokes *wink, wink* later, he gave up and kissed her which led to some naked finger painting and even more adult interactions. *nudge, nudge, wink, wink* I am SO jealous.
At the Forrester estate, Aly and Oliver were looking at her shoe designs when Ivy walked in and headed upstairs. Aly stopped her, warning her that Raya was up there already. Ivy looked annoyed before settling into a chair to sew some studs onto MAYA’S shirt because the obnoxious model wanted to wear it the next day and all the sewers had gone home. Aliver looked shocked that the Aussie was doing Maya a favor and she explained that Rick had asked her to do it. I’m at a complete loss as to why that matters? Maya wants studs on her own personal shirt, she should sew them. Instead, Maya’s upstairs tumbling her boss while Ivy’s stuck doing drudge work.
Upstairs, Raya was gloating over how their antics were going to chase away their roommates and Maya wondered out loud why Aly and Ivy still lived there. Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because the owner of the house invited them to and it’s actually Aly’s home since she and her dad moved in with Eric after selling the home she’d grown up in. In fact, based on that, Aly has far more right to be there than Raya.
Eric called and Rick told him the gunshots were just ‘stupid’ and everything was fine and blah, blah, blah. The impression I got from the call was that Rick talked Eric into not coming back early. Seriously? Eric’s a dumbass if he called the man having the ego maniacal meltdown to make sure everything’s okay. After the call, Maya decided she was hungry and Rick asked her if she wanted ice cream before he smirked and told her to ‘watch this’ and called Aly on the house phone.
After asking Aly if there was ice cream in the fridge, he told her he’d been thinking about her line, while shaking his head and making faces at Maya, who was laughing in the background, but he’d be able to think much better with ice cream in his stomach. When his innocent young niece asked him, stunned, if he was telling her he wanted her to fetch him ice cream, he and Maya started laughing.
“That’d be GREAT. Three scoops, two spoons.”
Aly actually did exactly what he asked and when she took it to the obnoxious duo, they didn’t say thank you to her or exhibit any kind of class. They merely made her bring it to them in bed, even though they were both only covered in a sheet. This is his NIECE. Maya thanked RICK for the ice cream with the pretty young redhead standing there. He told her she was welcome and they started feeding each other and completely blowing Aly off as she held the sketch he had said he wanted to look at. When she finally asked him if he was going to look at it, he laughed and told her he’d look at it later because he didn’t want the ice cream to melt. What a dick. Aly laid the sketch down and walked out while Rick and Maya laughed at her some more. Wow. Every time I think I can’t hate them anymore, they find a new low to sink to.
Liam and Bill met in the morning about the takeover, which Liam still thought he could pull off even after Steffy told him no. For some reason, Wyatt getting his job back was the lynchpin of their whole plan, which meant Wyatt had to go deal with the evil Forrester-Logan hybrid and kiss some major ass.
“With Steffy on our side, we get hers plus Thomas’ and we just work out the rest later.”
I have two issues with this. Thomas has always done what he wanted to. Steffy doesn’t lead him around by the nose. Aside from that, Steffy said NO. Liam really doesn’t seem to care about her at all. It’s all about what he wants and finding a way to get her to toe the party line. He really IS Bill’s son.
Bill started ranting about Ridge and his previous hold on Katie that was now a hold on Caroline, as though their attraction to the artist was as big a deal as the gun wielding SOB currently in charge over at FC. After letting his dad rant for a couple of moments, Liam redirected his anger towards Rick, since he thinks he’s the real threat at the moment.
“That little dictator. Napoleon wannabe. Shooting a gun at Caroline?”
All favorite forum nicknames for the little monster. That cracked me up.
“He should be in jail.”
Yes, Liam, he should and WHY isn’t he? Both Ridge and Caroline said they’d go to the cops if he didn’t step down. He’s still CEO, but Brooke ORDERS them to sit down and shut up, so that’s what they do? *head… desk… repeat*
When Wyatt knocked on Rick’s door at work, the CEO surpassed his previous behaving like a four-year-old at work by behaving like a spoiled, nasty toddler.
“You lost little boy? Want me to call your mommy?”
Wyatt managed to stay polite even through the barrage of nasty comments thrown his way. I have no idea how, I think I would have punched him and I’m not known for actual violence.
“Look, I said some things I regret.”
Rick, per the usual, didn’t know how to take anything gracefully, even a win. After asking Wyatt how badly he wanted the job, he told him to prove it.
“Get on your knees and beg.”
After Wyatt sweated that concept for a couple minutes, Rick laughed and said he wouldn’t actually make him do that because he wasn’t THAT sadistic. Wanna bet? Wyatt did some more verbal begging while Rick listened stony faced. After some hemming and hawing, Rick finally agreed to let him come back to work under the condition that Wyatt’s never allowed to talk back to him again.
Across town at La Casa De Brooke +1, Donna checked in to see how Brooke was doing since Hope was gone and she was all alone in her house. Brooke told her she was fine and she wouldn’t be alone for long since she was getting Ridge back… that day.
“You want Ridge back? Since when?”
Brooke assured her that she’d never stopped loving Ridge because ‘no one ever gets over’ him and she was going to end the little ‘fling’ he was having with the much younger blonde.
“I want Ridge again… and yes, I do want to teach Caroline a lesson.”
That’s going to go SO well since Rica was cuddled up in bed, enjoying the afterglow of their first night together. Laughing, teasing, tickling and kissing. I think Brooke’s outmatched on this one and I couldn’t be happier. Okay, Ridge choosing Katie over Brooke WAS pretty epic, but now Brooke’s getting replaced by a beautiful younger blonde. THAT’S gotta hurt.
Brooke got on the phone and asked Ridge to come over because she had something important to discuss with him. *rolls eyes* Naturally, when he arrived she was barely dressed in one of KKL’s tunics and a bikini. I guess that’s slightly less desperate than lingerie.
“I hope you don’t have any pressing plans today because you’re going to have so much fun here, you’re never going to want to leave.”
Contrary to looking excited about the prospect of spending the day with Brooke, Ridge looked a little pained by it. Another thing that made me laugh.
“I’m still trying to process everything that happened while I was away. You and Katie breaking up. Rick’s marriage falling apart. Rick and Maya living together.”
Brooke then jumped to picking on his relationship with Caroline and how it wouldn’t last and blah, blah, blah, before telling Ridge she wanted him back. When Ridge said they’d both moved on and their feelings were in the past she told him ‘not really.’
“Ummm, no. Really. Being with Spencer. That’s moving on.”
“Bill was a mistake.”
And there’s that word AGAIN. Brooke makes ‘mistakes’ that everyone needs to forgive (and does unfortunately) while everyone else commits cardinal sins that need to be remembered and punished. Brooke pulled a few more emotional strings, asking if he cared at all about her or remembered how they used to be. Ridge shook his head, assuring her that he still cared and hadn’t forgotten a thing while his hands rested on her waist. I’m not sure if he was being affectionate or holding her away from him since she kept leaning in.
“So what do you say? Out to the pool or up to the bedroom? OUR bedroom.” “So tell me you’re in love, this very moment.”
“I am Brooke. I am in love.”
Brooke hugged him tight, thinking he meant with her and then babbled about how far they’d come and how much they’d both grown with Ridge agreeing and even complimenting her on the empowered woman she became while she was away in Italy.
“But I’ve changed too.” “When I said I was in love with someone, I… I didn’t mean you. I’m sorry. I’m in love with Caroline.”
Brooke started arguing with him about how she was half his age and Rick’s wife and Ridge just shrugged and said he hadn’t meant for it to happen, but it had.
“With Caroline… I know it seems weird, but it’s almost like we’re of one mind.”
Brooke told him that life doesn’t happen at an easel. Quick note: the only way she’d know he’s painting is if the writers are implying this is not a new side to Ridge. So apparently it’s something he’s always done and we’ve just never seen it.
“I never meant to hurt you, you’ve gotta know that, but I’m committed to Caroline.”
Nail. Coffin. **smirk**
“You’re making a huge mistake.”
I guess it’s his turn?
“Whatever magic we had, all those years, it’s gone now. I’m moving on. You should do the same.”
Brooke whined that she’d tried and it never took.
“I will always love you, but I just want to start a new chapter in my life – and I want to do that with Caroline.”
Yes!!! Please! Ridge left and Brooke sulked for a moment before walking over and pouring herself a healthy drink to drown her sorrows in.
“To all of the men, who have loved me… and then left me. Here’s to you.”
I’d feel sorry for her except she’s the one who left Eric, Bill and Nick, so her pity party doesn’t really fly. While she was drinking her sorrows away, she looked at the pictures on her mantel where she had a pic of her and Bill AND pictures of her and Ridge. Seriously? I mean, that’s fine and all if both relationships are past and you’re not courting anyone new, but she was trying to get back with Ridge while having couple pics of her and Bill out, in sight?
While Ridge was rejecting the Unforgettable One, Caroline had overheard Donna telling Pam that Brooke wanted Ridge back and everyone in the family knew it was just a matter of time. After the two older women made sure Caroline knew she WASN’T a member of the family anymore, they lectured her about how Ridge would always go back to Brooke
“You don’t think you’re the first young woman who’s taken a shine to him do you?”
Caroline told them that they had a special connection and it was more than they were making it out to be.
“You don’t think that he’s in LOVE with you do you? Oh boy.”
Pam didn’t seem to know what to say to the look on Caroline’s face and that’s when Donna took over, defending her sister’s relationship and trying to make Caroline doubt her own.
“Okay. You’re totally infatuated. I get it, but you also know my sister’s history with Ridge.”
“With all due respect, your sister has history with a lot of men.”
OUCH. It’s nice to see Caroline refusing to back down, though, even if it was obviously hard for her to keep her chin up as the two women kept telling her that it was inevitable that Bridge reunite and she needed to be realistic. The lovely young designer stood her ground, telling the two meddlers that she knew what she and Ridge had.
“What you have is a solid working relationship.”
And a solid bedroom one apparently. *smirk*
“If Brooke will even allow that.”
Since when is Pam a confirmed Bridge fan girl? I get Donna, but Pam?
While Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber where harping, Ridge called Caroline and asked her to meet him at his loft, which gave Caroline an excuse to bail on the other women.
When Caroline walked into Ridge’s loft, she was obviously expecting the worst, even though she put on a brave face. Ridge told her what Brooke wanted, but quickly explained that he didn’t want the same things because he’d already made a commitment to someone else.
“Commitments can be broken.” … “If it’s what you really want.”
Awww, how sweet of her to give him an out, which he refused to take. Ridge told her this commitment wasn’t one he could break because he couldn’t turn his back on what he wanted.
Over at the Fuller Warehouse, Quinn and Deacon had some great, close moments cementing them further as the couple Brooke will screw with. Quinn showed a little concern over Brooke being back and Deacon did his best to ease her mind before she finally confessed that Brooke really was the least of her worries. Quinn’s in a very depressed state. She’s not working, not creating and feeling worthless personally and professionally and Deacon stepped up and did his best to comfort her. What she really needs is actual therapy… you know… the real stuff. Not the fake therapy she lied about having.
Quinn asked Deacon what he was getting out of the relationship and, instead of answering, he told her that he couldn’t expect much since he didn’t bring much. I was a bit disappointed in him for that.
“You bring a lot to the table. More than you know.”
That’s the closest thing to an ‘I love you’ I’ve ever seen from Quinn and the kiss that followed was actually very sweet. The couple they’re portraying is solid, strong, supportive and very caring. It’s great and that means it can’t last. Sorry folks. Incoming drama… it is a soap OPERA after all… and Quinn’s not the tightest cog in the machine.
“It’s so much nicer with you here.”
THIS from the woman who was happier alone. DeQuinn fans should be loving it.
“As a playmate?”
“And soul mate.”
At which point, Quinn did some serious backtracking as she tried to fix her romantic slip by saying she didn’t mean it in a romantic way. Nothing ‘goop’ or anything, just that they understood each other well. *snicker*
They spent some more time talking to each other over wine and relaxing on the couch together, all while being adorably complimentary. As far as Valentine’s Days went, I’d say it was a lovely one.
Over at Forrester, Rick was ‘busy’ and Pam interrupted him to let him know he had a visitor. Rick gave her crap about not being a good enough gate keeper since the person didn’t have an appointment and that’s when Steffy strode into the room.
“I pulled rank.”
Rick wasn’t sure how to take her visit, even as she kept things light, congratulating him on his new position before looking at sketches. Rick asked her if she was staying in town and she shrugged, telling him she hadn’t decided if she was leaving again or not and that’s when he told her to schedule a lunch with Maya because she hadn’t made any friends around the office. Steffy gave him an ‘are you serious’ look before putting him firmly in his place.
“I hope she finds some.”
Rick reminded her that it could be useful having some brownie points with him and Steffy laughed it off before waltzing over to his chair and sitting in it and putting her feet up on his desk before he could tell her not to.
“Oh, yeah. A person could get used to sitting here.”
Rick was far less than pleased about seeing Steffy in his chair, but it had me all smiles. While she was seated, she expressed her displeasure with Rica and Raya, even bringing up Maya’s portrait. After that, she and Rick debated the fact that Steffy ‘might’ want to be CEO one day, a fact Rick wasn’t fond of. Rick turned the conversation to Liam having a girlfriend and wondering what Steffy might think of that. Steffy got up and walked around the desk, refusing to take the bait, as Rick sat down again, mimicking her previous position and smirking at her.
“Rick, don’t get too comfortable. I kinda like that chair.”
Good!
Deacon bailed on his romantic couples night in with Quinn because he wanted to see if Brooke had any new info on Hope. Which was a rather lame excuse for the writers to reverse the earlier comments of his staying home to be with his lady. It also made no sense that he couldn’t just CALL her, especially since it was V-Day. When he knocked on her door, she reluctantly let him in and he realized she’d been drinking alone and celebrating SAD (Singles Awareness Day) all by herself.
“Are you all right?”
His concern for the woman who practically labeled him a rapist up until two years ago (Remember how ‘he took ADVANTAGE of her’ according to Brooke?) is almost as frustrating as his coming back suddenly in love with Brooke all over again (even though writing on B&B and Y&R had him not able to forget Bridget and then Amber). *sigh*
“I came back here and the men that I was involved with and those relationships, they’re all with somebody else and they’re in love and they’re moving on with their lives and here I am in this great big beautiful house… alone.”
After pouring herself another drink she whined some more about never expecting to be alone after all the years of all the men and relationships. Well, that’s what happens with musical chairs. Play long enough and eventually you’re the one left standing.
“Hey, you’ll never be alone. You can always turn to me.”
I’m not sure how Quinn’s going to feel about that comment OR Brooke’s new position as Deacon’s BFF – and queue the beginnings of trouble for the suddenly domesticated troublemakers.
While Deacon was trying to make Brooke feel better, Quinn dropped in on her son with a giant heart filled with candy. When pressed she admitted she hadn’t wanted him to spend Valentine’s Day alone.
“Sorry your wife left you; here’s a box of chocolates?”
She laughed and agreed that was the summation of it.
In Liam’s office, Liam proved he can’t keep a secret by babbling all of the hostile takeover plans to Ivy, who didn’t approve. After talking it through, Ivy had changed her mind and was on board taking the company away from her family if it meant getting rid of Rick. After that conversation came the harder one about Steffy and her feelings for him, which made Ivy visibly uncomfortable, even though Liam told her he had moved on and left Steffy behind romantically.
Making it across town in record time after being summoned by Rick (after hours no less), Ivy walked in on Steffy. Since Rick was momentarily out of his office, Ivy shut the door, told Steffy she knew about the plan and she wanted Steffy to help. She and Steffy talked for a few minutes about the logistics of it before they got honest about how Steffy felt about Liam.
The former Mrs. Spencer tried to explain that she couldn’t come back and work with Liam because of how she felt about him and Ivy told her she wasn’t worried because she trusted Liam and it really was the best thing for the company. Steffy told her that she underestimated the depth of the feelings between her and Liam and Ivy got defensive, telling the other woman that maybe she was the one underestimating the depth of feelings. That was when the pretense of civility broke and Steffy entered bitch mode.
“If I return to Los Angeles, I will not sit front row to you and Liam. I will NOT run this company and work all day with Liam, he’s the man that I love, and watch him go home with you. If I come back, I come back to all of it.”
Oy vey. *head… desk… repeat* PLEASE tell me that this is not going where I think it’s going?
Bill was busy working on Liam while Steffy and Ivy were having their ‘chat.’ The minute Liam confessed that Steffy would be on board if they were back together, Bill jumped right back on the Steam train bound for Infinite Loops, Tvland.
“Forget about that plant.”
Yeah, I heard that and died laughing, even though I mostly like Ivy and Liv. They’re sweet and refreshing, kind of like Aliver 2.0.
“You would be with the woman you were always meant to be with.”
Bill continued by telling Liam that Ivy would thank him in the long run because Forrester would be a better place to work. He also told him that he couldn’t let a little thing like human decency get in the way of treating women like interchangeable Legos to further his takeover plans. Yeah, I reworded it, but it’s really what he said. Bill’s disgusting and if Liam goes along with it, and not because he secretly still wants Steffy, he’s nearly as bad. I say nearly because he’d have to work really hard to top what Bill pulled on Katie.
Next week we’ll see just how far Liam’s willing to go to make his dream of his first corporate takeover come true and just how low Steffy’s willing to sink while she barters her family’s company for the less than true love of her ex. I just hope this SL isn’t going where I think it’s going. Is Steffy about to offer control of FC to the man she’s obsessed with in exchange for him leaving his current woman to be with her – just like Brooke did with FC and Ridge? I’m fairly certain we are, much to my chagrin, so maybe I’ll get lucky in a different storyline and we’ll get to see some sexy Rica happenings and Rick’s ultimate meltdown at her daring to be happy without him. Brooke’s had one night of drunken stupidity on a night where brokenhearted singles actually have a reputation for getting soused, so it remains to be seen just how far down the drunken pipeline they’re willing to take her. Right now, it looks like a pretty entertaining five days, especially with JMW back in the house.
Pet Peeve of the Week: This BS idea that the ONLY way to save Forrester Creations is for SP to take it over and Liam to ‘save the day.’
I have a unique idea. Why doesn’t Steffy form HER own company with her brother and dad? They can each ‘sell’ their shares to it and then buy 1% of stock from Bill, for a premium, before taking over FC themselves – with their new company. It’s totally legal and doable. If Bill and Liam REALLY want this take over JUST to save Ivy and Caroline, they’d go along with it. Of course, then we would be watching a WOMAN taking charge and being savvy (without using sex) to accomplish her goals and we wouldn’t get the joy of watching, again, a woman debase and devalue herself for a man with her own dreams and desires coming in a far distant second.